also this isn't a "lawless" region that OP is talking about they are in city centers in Cambodia and the Cambodian police and government officials are all getting paid off to let them operate freely.

it really is disgusting to see this level of corruption and that its going to have long term economic impact on Cambodia and Cambodians abroad.

Makes you think that idea of spreading democracy is not just a cover for power struggles, but something really important

Makes you wonder if not blowing the country to bits and helping the Khmer Rouge gain power would have been better for its development

Cambodia is not really a democratic country. It still an Autocracy.

And for some reasons there are Americans thinking they were wrong going to Vietnam

Indeed. I spent a while in Vietnam and it was a regular occurrence of news stories about locals being rescued from all sorts of situation, not just scam centers - casinos, massage parlors.

The stories ranged from video of people running away from these places to escape, to Vietnamese police bribing people back to Vietnam who had been lured with the promise of a good job.

Cambodia really is the Wild West of this stuff.